Portland Report

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Fall came suddenly this year in the Pacific Northwest. We were enjoying summer one day and the next
day the skies opened and the water poured down.
It rained hard for a week and a half.
The trees, with their full complement of leaves, were heaving in the
wind. Branches broke, power lines
snapped, and gutters overflowed in every neighborhood.

Some deciduous trees change color and drop their leaves in
response to temperature, others in response to day length. Two weeks into October, the temperatures are
dropping, the days are growing shorter and the leaves are changing in every
neighborhood.

From my office window the view is dense with foliage. Against the dark green of Douglas firs, the
native alders turn a rusty yellow. They
are not showy trees. Another native, the
Big Leaf maples are slightly lighter in hue but again, they don’t wear their
colors like a debutante wears a gown.
More pale still are the cottonwoods, and while they aren’t bright with
color, they are bright with movement.
Their leaves flicker in the wind and catch the eye.

Because I live in the city, there are many non-native trees
in the landscape. From my window is a
luminous yellow tree which glows like a round torch when the sun strikes
it. Even on a dark and cloudy day it
shines in bright contrast to the somber natives. My eyes are drawn to it again and again
during its brief time of seasonal glory.

There are reds and russets of maples and oaks and more
yellows and oranges of elms and ash. The
purple-leaved ornamental plums turn a burnished bronze as the temperature
dips. The sweet gums and dogwoods, the
tulip trees and liquidambars all blaze as their chlorophyll breaks down and the
trees store up energy for the winter.

Soon, the deciduous trees will be bare but our hills never
are. The evergreens are as thick as a winter
pelt. Douglas firs tower over the
landscape whether in town or in the country.
There are cedars and spruce and pine on every hill. As the deciduous trees fade into the
background, the conifers make up for their absence. The variety in shades of green is
astounding. Some so dark and deep that
they nearly look black and others almost a yellowy green that reminds us spring
will come again.

But today, the view at work is dominated by that glowing
ball of bright yellow. This tree will
hold its leaves for another week or so and the parade of colorful trees will
march in time for a little longer. After
that, rain-soaked woods and a palette of gray and green will be the view from
my window.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

It seems the economic slow-down or recession or whatever you
want to call it is over. Building
projects are leaping up all over the damned place.

The Albina Fuel location is FINALLY moving forward. They knocked down all the buildings on the
site, scraped up the rubble and are working like beavers at constructing the
new thing. It’s going to be the typical
layout – ground floor retail and condos above.
The ground floor retail is supposed to be, get this, a New Seasons grocery
store. Wha….?!? Yes, right between Freddy’s and QFC, and down
the street from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Well, it’s not like we won’t have choices. They will be adding a traffic light at 32nd,
which is going to be necessary when they add the hundreds of dwelling
spaces. It feels odd to have a giant construction crane looming over
Broadway.

There’s a so-called ‘super-block’ being developed in the
Lloyd District. It’s the property that
once was a private parking lot between Multnomah and the Max tracks. Next door to the computer store. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a mix of
ground floor retail and business and condos above. Sound familiar? This is our future, apparently. Right now, they have a tall chain link fence
with tarps on the inside all around the property. I kind of resent that because we all like to
watch stuff being built in our neighborhoods.

The new bridge over the Willamette is going along
nicely. It’s actually nice looking so
far with a spiderweb of steel cables stretching from the towers to the road
bed. I’m supposing it will be a lift
bridge because yes, we are a PORT and shipping should be able to go further up
the river than that. At least, I’d bet
the businesses in Oregon City think so.
I’m actually pretty excited about this bridge. It’s going to be used for light rail, bikes
and pedestrians. Not cars! Well, probably buses and maybe emergency
vehicles, but not cars in general.
Good. Progress.

I had mentioned some time ago that there was a building
going up at that wacky intersection of Burnside, 12th and
Sandy. It looks like it is nearing
completion. I understand that it is
supposed to be a senior living facility (no doubt over ground floor retail). I’m not sure why it’s going up right there –
other than the obvious: someone wanted to build something big and had the land
for it. What I mean is, there aren’t any
obvious services geared to seniors in that neighborhood. There is a bus line or two. And, plenty of bars and a couple of strip
joints… I suppose the Franz bakery might have cheap bread for the
oldsters. But, it’s not really even a
very walkable location. I don’t get
it. Maybe I need more info.

I have also mentioned the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal
Building and its big redo. Looks like
they might be nearing completion on that.
I really need some pictures to do this post justice.
The outside of this building looks like a giant pipe organ. I don’t know if they make noise, but the
front of the building is covered with rows and rows of massive upright
pipes. I suppose it’s some form of green
technology and it is interesting looking.
I’ll give it that.

I have taken the bus a couple of times this week, and there
are some updates along the route. I’ll
be back on the bus more, what with the weather getting so very wet
suddenly. I’ll take better notes,
because there are things happening!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Hi! Have you forgotten that I have a blog? Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten. But, hey, I'm here now so let's get on with it.

Birthday season in my family is just starting to taper off. April is a challenging month! Last weekend we had birthday celebrations for the mother in law and the niece... mother in law turned 80 and niece turned 18. So, that called for a party, of course!

Not that they needed more food or more desserts, but I needed to get some fruit out of the freezer so I volunteered to make a cherry pie. I buy pie cherries and jam cherries from Fruithill Farm in Yamhill, Oregon. You have to buy a 4 gallon bucket at a time. You can get them either with or without sugar. With sugar is recommended for pie cherries (it helps keep their color bright) and without sugar is best for canning and jam.

Two years ago I got a bucket of each. Last year year I only got the cherries without sugar. I make a lot of jam, but not that many pies. I had several ziptop bags of cherries in the freezer at my parents house -- probably enough for a half dozen pies. Well, my dad called a week or so ago and said that his fridge was misbehaving and he thought I should come and get the cherries before they defrosted. I did so, and quickly. Those cherries are way too good and too costly to squander! I brought them home and put them in my small chest freezer.

Besides the cherries, I had several small batches of berries frozen too. I like to freeze berries individually on a plastic cutting board and then bag them up for later. We love the berries in a mimosa! I had several bags of strawberries, raspberries and one bag of blackberries. Mostly from our garden, but some from the farmer's market.

So, I decided to make a cherry pie for the party and asked my partner if her mom would like that. She said yes, but she'd rather have a raspberry pie. I didn't have enough berries for a whole pie but enough for two medium sized tarts.

I have been searching for small pie pans for a long time and recently bought two new contenders. One is a ceramic 5 inch deep dish (Chantal) and the other is a metal (Fat Daddio) 6 inch, much shallower. They aren't exactly what I was looking for but this seemed like the perfect time to try them out.

I got the dough started and let it rest in the fridge. Then I got the fruit into two separate pans on the stove. It was at this point that I became frustrated with myself. No matter how many times I dug through the pantry, I could not find any cornstarch. What?! No cornstarch? How the heck was I going to thicken these juicy berries without a quick trip to the store?

People, let me tell you, it is possible. At least, it's possible if you happen to be an avid jam maker and happen to have several kinds of pectin on hand.

Yes! It's true! I made a pie and two tarts using pectin to thicken the fruit instead of cornstarch! I was pretty pleased with myself, I have to say.

For the berry tarts, I started with about 4 cups of mixed berries. I like my pies to really taste like the fruit so I don't add much sugar to them. I mixed a half cup of sugar and a teaspoon of powdered pectin together and added them to the pan. I let the berries and sugar/pectin mixture cook down for about 15 minutes at a very low simmer. They were pretty soupy even after I had poured off as much juice as possible. After it had cooked down, I simply poured it in the pie crust and popped it in the oven. Well, ok, I made a lattice top and brushed it with butter and sprinkled sugar on it, but you know what I mean...

We ate one of the berry tarts at home and took the pie and the deep dish tart over to the mother in law's house. It was good! I heard no complaints from the in laws but they are not a very effusive bunch.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Bike Commute Challenge took place during September here
in Portland. I didn’t manage a 100%
biking rate this year, but I did pretty well.
I rode all but three days of the month.
I’ll have to be satisfied with that.

2.12 people at the light this morning! Didn’t all make it through the green!

The numbers are increasing.
There was actually a bicycle traffic jam at the intersection of
Interstate and Oregon St, by the Rose Quarter.
Lots of people are riding to work and wearing real clothes, not bike
gear.

I like it!

3.Older Gal passing me up

Now, this is just funny.
On my ride to work, there is a street that has a gentle rise over the
course of two blocks. It’s a gentle rise
but definitely noticeable. I will either
downshift or stand up and pedal. So, I’m
heading up the street one morning last week and behind me comes an older gal
cruising along on her bicycle. This, in
itself, is not surprising. People of all
ages ride bikes, especially in Portland.
Nor is it surprising that she then passes me. I get passed by people every day. But, as she passes, I notice that she is both
older and heavier than I am… hmm… and,
I’m in decent shape so how is she able to cruise right by? Well, I don’t bother myself about it, but
rather just keep on riding to work. When
I get to the bottom of the tram, I see that she is a couple of bikes ahead of
me and we both ride up the hill. After
we disembark and walk through the building to the street, she hops on her bike,
reaches down and clicks something. The
next thing I know there’s a gentle whirring sound and off she goes up the
street. It’s an electric assist bicycle!

4.Need a bigger basket

As I mentioned before, I need to replace the basket on the
front of Helen. It got broken and bent
in that crash. And, it’s just too
small. I have been looking on line and
at my local bike shops and I think I have one picked out. BUT, I also have the collapsible rear basket
on the right, which is where I put my backpack.
I asked my Pop if I could have the one off my mum’s bike to mount on the
left side. Then I will have three
baskets and that’s enough cargo area for any trip to the store or the farmer’s
market. Ok, true, I usually walk to the
store… but still! And, just because
Helen is such a beauty, I’m going to paint all the baskets brown to match her
trim. It’ll be a winter project.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Things keep happening, even if you don't read about them here. Sorry about that!

So, that development on Burnside and 12th (do I need to add 'East side'? No.) According to the sign posted on the chain link fence, it's going to be a senior residence. A green one, apparently. I think it might be affiliated with the church that owned (owns?) the parking lot that has become the property site. We shall see!

That Lloyd Center parking lot remodel pissed me off. The whole thing is to add storm water drainage and plantings and whatever... and so the first thing they did was cut down the trees that were living in little islands in the midst of all that asphalt. Fuckers. Cut down trees in order to plant trees. Don't people understand that trees are living things that have as much right to exist as we do? I feel a rant coming on...

The Farmer's Markets have been fantastic this year. I have lost count of how many jars of jam I have made so far this year. Well over 100. That makes me happy! We also put up two dozen jars of pickles. This year we did the hot brine to refrigerator method rather than the water bath method. The pickles are fantastic! We bought a small fridge for the basement and it is chock full. But now, we are worried. The pickles are so good that we'll surely run out before cucumber season comes back. Might have to make another dozen jars...

I crashed on my bike last week. It was on the East Bank Esplanade, where the switchback from the transit center, the East Bank bikeway and the Steel Bridge bikeway all come together. Another gal and I got our signals crossed and ran into each other. Then, a woman behind me crashed trying to avoid us. It was a mess. Fortunately, no one was badly hurt ~ including our bikes. I took Helen in to the bike shop to be checked out and she is just fine. Well, they said she's fine and I rode to work today but she definitely feels a little loose in the front end. I'll be keeping an eye on her, that's for sure. Wrecked my front basket, though. I'll need to replace that.

The new bridge across the Willamette is coming along, and the University buildings beside it. According to new releases, the first phase of the school buildings will open next fall. The year after that the Dental School will take up residence there. What will happen to the dental school building on the Hill? Probably tear it down and build something bigger. The bridge itself is slated to be completed in the fall of 2015. It will serve light rail, pedestrians and bicycles.

The grass at Waterfront Park is being rehabbed. Large chunks of the park are fenced off to get the grass back in shape. We use this park a lot and the grass really takes a beating. There's still the Race for the Cure coming up, but I think this year it will be down at the other end of the park, near River Place. The geese are loving the new grass!

Well, that's it for now, gentle reader. I'll try harder to stay up to date on the doings of pdx...